Pardon me, but is the CAA crazy? The conference tournament is moving to Upper Marlboro, Md? Is Maryland joining the CAA?
The Show Place Arena is a cozy, 5,000-seat arena and we suspect on most days of the 2010-11 tournament, 4,600 of those seats will be empty (and that's if things go really well).
No doubt the CAA got a sweet deal. The Show Place Arena lured the Atlantic 10 tournament there this year and attendance has been sparse. Just over 1,000 people (1,054) watched Xavier hold off Charlotte on Sunday in a thriller. Xavier, by the way, is projected to be a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament.
The only CAA school in Maryland is Towson, which doesn't have a substantial following. Upper Marlboro is not centrally located. The coaches have talked about a neutral site for years, but the idea, we thought, was a neutral site in a CAA city. We doubt that most fans from say, ODU and James Madison, will really want to make that drive. It's just a jaunt for Delaware fans (92 miles from Newark), but will Blue Hens fans travel there? The diehards go anywhere, but CAA basketball, sadly, doesn't have a whole lot of diehards. Remember when the tournament was in the Patriot Center in Fairfax a few years ago? Recall how that turned out? It was a struggle for the TV cameras not to show all those empty seats in an area that was frankly, a pain to get to.
Upper Marlboro is 180 miles away from Norfolk and 153 miles from Harrisonburg. Getting women's basketball fans to travel across town can be a problem. Putting the tournament in tin buck two is not smart (by the way the real Tin Buck 2 is in South Dakota, which might put in a bid for the CAA tournament in 2013). Any thoughts to the Richmond Coliseum, Scope or Hampton Coliseum?
No offense to the fine folks at the Show Place Arena, but whose idea was this anyway?
one could then argue that ODU (Hampton Coliseum) or VCU (Richmond Coliseum)would then have the upper hand in the tournament.
ReplyDeleteI dont believe that, but many people do. It's been going on for years with the Mens tournament being held at the Richmond Coliseum.
and trust me, JMU fans will travel. We took 150 or so down to Lexington, KY a few years back for the WNIT game at Kentucky. Same with the ODU fans. No other teams really have a fanbase anyways.
I think anonymous is missing the point. The men have a large following and can play in Richmond and draw. Not so for the women. And for info Delaware also has a fanbase also but taking 150 fans from Harrisonburg to Lexington wont help fill this place. It will be an embarrasment. I cant believe the ADs and Tom Yeager could come up with this idea. And to do it for two years....In order to make it appear as though they have attendance they will have to take what few folks do show, pack them in one section and then point the cameras in that direction. Hal
ReplyDeleteLexington is roughly 6 hours away. That's not too bad for a womens basketball team.
ReplyDeleteWe still support the CAA tournament being in a CAA city. The Atlantic 10 tourney had small numbers in Upper Marlboro last week. That said, we're not fooling ourselves. Thousands of fans aren't going to flock to the CAA tournament wherever it is. No students will be there. Bottom line: The league needs to start building a fan base and marketing its players, league and tournament. It's not impossible to attract new fans. The WNIT final last year at Kansas was a huge success. Delle Donne is a fabulous player to market, trouble is most of the country hasn't seed her play. You'd like your tournament to appeal to the surrounding community. Why would anyone in Upper Marlboro care about the CAA?
ReplyDeleteI believe that, in order for a mid major womens basketball tournament to draw any significant attendance, it must be held in a CAA city where the CAA team draws. As an example, Drexel, the reigning CAA champion, averaged 925 this year at home. If you hold the tourney there you can see what is faced. VCU was in the mix for a #1 seed in the tourney for most of the year - they average 497 per game. I have to believe that the majority of the attendance comes from the home team. ODU - 3072 per game, Delaware - 2973, and JMU - 2594. It wont happen but should JMU go down in the semi's check the attendance for the finals this week.
ReplyDeleteIn about five minutes the finals of the womens Atlantic 10 tournament in Upper Marlboro is being shown on ESPN 2 Lets take a look.
ReplyDeleteCase Closed.
ReplyDeleteAnyone for moving the CAA tournament to Hartford? It might draw there.
ReplyDeleteIf its going to be neutral it has to be somewhat centralized
ReplyDeleteFor the CAA centralized would mean somewhere between Boston and Atlanta????????
ReplyDelete